1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to protective tubular sleeves for providing protection to elongate members contained therein, and more particularly to corrugated knit tubular sleeves and to their method of construction.
2. Related Art
Corrugated rubber hoses are commonly used in various industries to provide a tubular member through which media can be routed, such as elongate members, fluid and gas. The corrugations of the hose provide enhanced radial crush strength, while at the same time providing enhanced flexibility to enable the hose to be routed over meandering paths without kinking. Although corrugated rubber hoses provide certain benefits, they also require being protected against abrasion and from radial expansion, particularly when used to route high pressure fluid or gas. Accordingly, a supplemental sleeve constructed to provide protection against abrasion coupled with a plurality of rigid annular anti-expansion rings to prevent radial expansion, such as, in addition to clamp rings, plastic or metal rings disposed along the length of the sleeve, are commonly used in combination with corrugated rubber hoses. Although the supplemental sleeve and anti-expansion rings provide abrasion and anti-expansion protection to the underlying rubber hose, they come at an added cost, both in manufacture and assembly.